# where does the term "old college try" come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-old-college-try-come-from/185667>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 1, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-old-college-try-come-from/185667 "2003-07-01T21:48:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tdl96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@tdl96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdl96)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-old-college-try-come-from/185667/1 "2003-07-01T21:48:16Z")

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I heard a weird explaination that I don’t completely believe, so I figured I’d ask Cecil’s crew here.

Anybody?

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**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-old-college-try-come-from/185667/2 "2003-07-03T22:11:04Z")

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WAG - the early teens and twenties when college sports became “a thang.”